new wine, new skins

Matthew 9:16-17

Jesus uses two word pictures in his continuing response to the question: "Why don't your disciples fast?" He talks about patching old clothes with a new patch - it doesn't work because the new patch shrinks while the old cloth doesn't, creating an even bigger hole. He talks about new wine being put into old wineskins - it also doesn't work because, as the new wine ferments, it expands but the old wineskin has already stretched to capacity so it bursts and the wine is lost. Jesus is making a point about inflexible structures of religion. He is saying that God wants to do a new thing through Christ but it cannot be put within the old structures of religion. He is making a point that the Jews have become so enamoured with the structure of religion that they have forgotten that the point of the structure is to bring life in relationship to God.
This is a good reminder for me. I like routines. When I go to the gym, I like to do the same thing over and over again. I'll switch it up every four months or so but I want to do the same things in the same order so I don't have to think. This love for routine makes its way into my relationship with God: I do the same things in the same order expecting the same results. Eventually, the things I do and the order I do them in become more important than actually connecting with God and I've become attached to a wineskin instead of loving the wine.
Notice that Jesus isn't saying that we should get rid of wineskins all together. He is just reminding us that they only serve a purpose for a certain time. The way we "do church" serves its purpose for its time but eventually the structures may have to change in order for people to experience God more fully.
God, help me not to fall in love with structures and wineskins but to use those structures to pursue and to discard those structures that don't help me to experience you.